With United States Senator Cory Booker at the Democrats for Education Reform Annual Education Party in Boston’s historic SoWa Power Station and Trolley Barn.

It took several tries, but it finally happened. First, there was the event with Boston City Councilor Josh Zakim in 2013 that I wasn’t allowed into, followed by an event with former U.S. Senator Kay Hagan last semester, then I unknowingly crashed a private party because Google Maps wasn’t accurate enough, before actually meeting him at the Democrats for Education Reform Annual Education Party, not far from my voting location in Boston’s historic South End (I had walked by my polling location on the way to the event). He played college football at Stanford, has received a BA in PoliSci and Masters in Sociology, before earning a Rhodes Scholarship at Queen’s College Oxford, and finally receiving his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. He stayed in Newark following school at Yale before eventually running for Mewark City Council. In 2002, he announced a campaign against incumbent Newark Mayor Sharpe James, losing 47% to 53%. He ran again for Mayor of Newark against Deputy Mayor Ron Rice, outspending Rice’s campaign 25 to 1, and winning the election with 72% of the vote. His slate of City Council candidates, called the “Booker Team,” also swept the council elections. He ran for re-election in 2006 winning with 59% of the vote, but only seven out of nine council candidates won re-election. On December 20th, 2012, he announced that he would be exploring a run for United States Senate in 2014, the seat occupied by Frank Lautenberg. On June 9th, he announced he would run for the open seat. On August 13th, 2013, he was declared winner of the Democratic Primary in a crowded race. On October 31st, 2013, he was sworn into the Senate.

With former United States Senator Kay Hagan at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics.

Quite infamously, in October, the Dole campaign released the attack ad above that stated Hagan had been taking “Godless money.” Of course, as a longtime member of the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, and former Sunday School teacher, Hagan cited it a “fabricated, pathetic ad.” Her campaign released the following ad: